Tag Archives: youtube

Project Update

Planning Commission Meeting Videos here!

After many months of public requests by SPON for the Newport Beach Planning Commission meetings to be video recorded and televised (as they are in most other cities), on February 23, 2016, the City Council voted 2 (Dixon, Petros) in favor to 4 (Selich, Muldoon, Duffield, Peotter) against televising.

The City finally relented by placing Item 12 on the Council’s January 24, 2017, consent calendar, directing staff to begin “filming” and making available the Planning Commission meetings and adopting Resolution No. 2017-10, amending then City Council Policy A-13 to remind the Commissioners to behave with decorum while being filmed. The item was unanimously approved, without comment.

Starting February 9, 2017, the City finally took over responsibility for video recording and posting the meetings. Those can be found in the City Planning Commission video archive. The meetings are still not broadcast or streamed live, but in addition to being archived, the recordings are later shown on the City’s cable station, Newport Beach TV.

The following archives SPON’s effort to accomplish that —

Overview: In response to numerous earlier requests from SPON, Mayor Dixon asked that the question of televising Planning Commission meetings be put on the February 23, 2016, Council agenda.

More than 70 community members either emailed the Council or showed up in person to support the idea of televising, live streaming and archiving videos of the meetings. No one wrote or spoke in opposition.

Council Action: Despite the clear and unanimous public sentiment, Council voted not to televise the meetings [Dixon and Petros voted in favor of televising; Selich, Muldoon, Duffield and Peotter voted to oppose televising; Curry was absent]. The Council members’ arguments for and against are well worth listening to. Click here to view the Video; click on Agenda Item #16 to skip directly to this matter at 59:16 minutes.

The vote against televising the meetings is worrisome on several levels:

The equipment and largely automated technology is already in place for City Council meetings and needs only to be turned on during the Commission meetings and manned.

Staff indicated there was ample budget to cover the $3,600/year extra expense ($50 per hour). Most meetings are under two hours so the actual cost will likely be closer to $2,500/year.

Council arguments against televising meetings focused on these concerns:

that the public would stop coming to meetings

that commissioners might be inclined to grandstand more if televised

that access to videos would aid litigants against the city

and, ironically, that commissioners (and Council members) wouldn’t have the benefit of public comments delivered in person before voting

The Planning Commission itself expressed displeasure both with the Council’s decision and with the fact that no one asked their views on the matter. However an expected noticed public discussion of the matter by the Commission has not yet materialized.

SPON’s Next Step: We are not giving up on this request. While we work to gather more support in the community and on the Council, SPON, at its own expense, has retained a videographer who will videotape Planning Commission Meetings beginning March 3. Videos will be posted to our website and/or You Tube for public viewing. Be sure to watch for our progress on this action on our website.

Write to City Council members to let them know how important these videos are for government transparency

Write letters to the editors of our local newspapers. Be sure to include your name, city of residence and phone number (not for publication but allows editors to check with you if they have questions).

Council Candidate Forums

As a 501(c)3 organization, SPON cannot, and does not, take a position on the merits of candidates for elective office. Providing information to the public is, however, part of SPON’s core mission, and as such — in the interest of an informed electorate — SPON provides links to videos of public election forums, present and past, at which competing candidates for the Newport Beach City Council have expressed their views on issues of interest to residents. To access our full playlist of YouTube videos click on the little horizontal bars in the upper left-hand corner of the video below. Links to additional election forum videos can be found by following the first link above.﻿

Community Interest Videos

This is a collection of videos that may be of interest to members of the SPON community. To access the full playlist, click on the little horizontal bars in the upper left-hand corner of the video below.

SPON GPAC presentations

These videos archive presentations made at SPON’s GPAC workshops. For additional details, including copies of the PowerPoints, see the SPON General Plan Update page. To access the full playlist, click on the little horizontal bars in the upper left-hand corner of the video below.

City Workshops recorded by SPON

These are videos, recorded at SPON’s expense, of public workshops conducted by the City of Newport Beach. To see the full list, click on the little horizontal bars in the upper left-hand corner of the video below and scroll through the selections.

SPON-recorded Planning Commission Meeting Videos

From March 3, 2016, though January 19, 2017, SPON, at its own expense, recorded and posted the Newport Beach Planning Commission meetings for public review.
To see the full list, click on the little horizontal bars in the upper left-hand corner of the following video and then scroll through the selections.

Alternatively, to see the full playlist directly on SPON’s YouTube channel click on this link.

City-recorded Planning Commission Meeting Videos

Effective February 9, 2017, the City of Newport Beach assumed responsibility for filming Planning Commission meetings, and maintains them from that date forward on the city’s website.